The Tallest Star
by Brackenmask
Summary: Tallstar's past. The old leader looks back on his past and recalls the love, the hate and the deaths. As the last surviving kit of the litter, Starclan has chosen an important path for him. This is his story. R&R please.
1. The Rise

**Contains spoilers...**

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Chapter 1

"Get some rest." A dark brown cat meowed.

"Barkface, please, my time is almost up. Get Firestar and Onewhisker." An older tom coughed. His black and white fur was matted.

"Of course Tallstar, I'll be right back." Barkface dashed off to find the two cats.

The old tom closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He could smell his mother's scent, and he could feel her warmth. He was remembering his past. He recalled what his mother said to him.

"You're my surviving kit, Starclan has chosen an important path for you. Learn well and follow your heart." She whispered into Tallkit's ears.

The young kit didn't pay much attention, he was pouncing on his mother's tail and chasing his own. Suddenly a small golden cat walked into the nursery. She looked at the kit and examined him carefully.

"You have a long tail." She mewed. His mother nodded.

"Hello Goldeneye." Tallkit's mother dipped her head.

"Hello Flowerpelt." The young medicine cat replied. "Tallkit has an unusually long tail. I think this is a good omen. That means he should have a long life. You should be proud."

"I am." The light gray queen meowed.

"Everything's fine, call me if anything hurts." Goldeneye quickly dashed out of the nursery.

"Did you hear that, Tallkit? You're going to have a long life." Flowerpelt meowed.

Tallkit looked into his mother's amber eyes for a long time. "A long and happy life?" the young kit squeaked.

He was going to have a long life but would did be joyful and happy? No life is perfect. She didn't know what to say at first. "Probably." She mewed finally. The young kit curled up next to her and slowly fell asleep. Flowerpelt watched her son's body rise and fall, rise and fall.

Rise and fall…

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I know it's short, but it'll get longer, this is just the prologue. Everyone's doing fanfics about Bluestar and stuff, but I **love** Tallstar so I'm going to do a fanfic about him. Tallstar loves reviews...I might do one of Leopardstar and Blackstar soon, who knows...totally random but, I think those to make a good pair, In the book they're always next to eachother and yeah...don't listen to me rant...Review please! Thank you for reading.


	2. The Playful Kit

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Warriors, everyone should know this by now.

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Chapter 2

Tallkit bounced around outside of the nursery. His mother, Flowerpelt, was a few tail-lengths away keeping an eye on her precious kit. A few moments later, three cats approached Tallkit and Flowerpelt.

"Good morning Flowerpelt." A large silver she-cat mewed. A large dark brown tom and a large black and white tom sat beside her.

Tallkit stopped playing and looked at the large cats. His eyes widened as he stared at the two large, muscular toms. Then he focused and the more slender, but large, she-cat. He stared at her battle scars each one represented a big battle that she fought and survived. "Woah…" he mumbled.

"Hello." The she-cat mewed.

"H-hi." The young kits stuttered.

"Tallkit, you should know who this is." Flowerpelt scowled. "Don't be shy."

"Mom." He whined. "I just never saw Breezystar up close before, she's always far away." He turned to face her. "Hi, Breezystar."

"Don't be rude, say hello to your father and the deputy." His mother ordered.

Tallkit turned to the dark brown tom. "Hello, Pinefur." He mewed. That large brown tom gazed at the small kit with his expressionless, green eyes.

"Hello." He meowed in a deep voice. A chill ran down Tallkit's spine which made his fur bristle.

Tallkit quickly turned his head away. Then he turned towards the black and white tom. Tallkit ran up to him and rub his tiny head and the large tom's leg.

"Hello father." He mewed happily. Flowerpelt approached the large tom and licked his ear.

"Hello Patchfoot." She whispered. Patchfoot pressed his nose into her flank and purred. Tallkit backed away and looked back at his leader.

"Flowerpelt." Breezystar meowed. Flowerpelt turned her gaze towards her leader.

"Yes?" she mewed.

"I think it is time for Tallkit to become and apprentice. He is six moons, right?" The larger silver she-cat meowed.

"Yes! Yes, I am!" Tallkit squeaked with excitement.

Breezystar nodded. "Be ready by Sunhigh." She turned away and left, Patchfoot followed.

Tallkit watched Breezystar walk away. Then he looked over at Pinefur who still move. He held his gaze at Tallkit and twitched his tail. The kit backed away a few steps an gulped.

"Yes, Pinefur." He mewed.

Pinefur sighed. "Nothing." He meowed. Without another word, he turned away and trotted towards his leader.

Tallkit watched as the deputy crept away. Something was not right. Frightened by the deputy's cold stare, he quickly ran towards his mother who was talking with another queen, outside of the nursery.

"Tallkit, say hello to Sagefur. She's a new queen." Flowerpelt mewed. Tallkit, still thinking about Pinefur's cold stare, didn't respond. Flowerpelt's stare became scarier than Pinefur's stare.

"Don't be rude." She snapped.

Tallkit quickly turned to Sagefur. "Hello." He muttered, and then he quickly ran into the nursery.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's gotten into him." Flowerpelt meowed as she looked at the nursery entrance. "He's usually full of energy and loves to play outside." Then two queens continued talking with one another.

Tallkit sat in the nursery alone. _Why did he stare at me for so long? Did I do something wrong?_ He wondered. Pinefur's stare lingered in his head for a few moments longer. Suddenly he saw a bug crawl by him. He focused on the bug and began to whack it with his paw. Within a few heartbeats he had already forgotten the haunting stare of Pinefur.

"Gotcha!" he mewed, pouncing on top of the bug. "You're mine." He used his nose the throw the bug up, then he pounced on it again. He rolled off and lied on the ground for a few moments, then slowly got back up.

"Die you evil bug." He yelled, pretending to be fatally wounded. The bug wasn't even moving anymore, yet the kit still attacked it. "I win!" he mewed proudly.

Suddenly he noticed a warrior staring at him. "What're you doing?" he meowed.

Tallkit stared at the warrior. "Just playing."

"Well keep it down, we can hear you from our den." He scowled. Then he turned away, his tall gold fur gleamed as he walked out of the nursery.

"Sorry Lionclaw." Tallkit mewed. After, Flowerpelt and Sagefur walked in and settled down. Tallkit walked over towards his mother and closed his eyes. This would be his last time sleeping in the nursery. By Sunhigh, he'd be an apprentice.

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Another chapter done. There was some foreshadowing in this one...can you see it? Keep on a look-out for the next chapter!


	3. The River

Sorry it too me so long to update, I've just been busy lately. Here is the chapter...

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Chapter 3

Tallpaw stared at his leader with glimmering eyes. "I can't belice you chose me to be your mentor, Breezystar! Thank you so much." He mewed.

"Well, I find you to be quite a special cat. Starclan has something great in store for you. I can sense it." Breezystar whispered into the young apprentice's ear.

Tallpaw skipped around his leader excitedly. Suddenly Pinefur approached Breezystar and dipped his head. Tallpaw stopped his skipping and hid behind his leader. Breezystar quickly glanced at the young apprentice then she turned her head towards Pinefur.

"What do want Pinefur?" she asked.

The large dark brown tom cleared his throat. "Riverclan has sent a messenger, he'd like to speak to you." He mewed.

"Very well, bring him in." she replied.

A tom led the young Riverclan warrior into the Windclan camp. The pale warrior was trembling nervously as he looked up at the Windclan cats. Tallpaw stared at the young warrior and cocked his head. The Riverclan tom soon straightened up, Tallpaw noticed he had a crooked jaw.

"Greetings Br-Breezystar." He stuttered. "I am Crookedjaw from Riverclan, and I came here to send you a message."

"First task as a warrior?" she purred with amusement. The young tom nodded. "Well then, go ahead and tell me the message."

"Longstar would like to take half of the moor. He said that he'd fight for it if you didn't let him have it." Crookedjaw meowed.

"What!" Pinefur hissed aggressively at Crookedstar. His claws were sheathed and his fur was raised. Tallpaw thought he was going to tear the poor Riverclan tom apart. Luckily, Breezystar stepped between Pinefur and Crookedjaw.

"Stop!" she ordered. Pinefur's claws remained sheathed for a few moments, then he calmed down and let his fur rest on his body again. Breezystar turned towards Crookedjaw and sighed. Tallpaw noticed the young tom trembling with fear.

"Tell Longstar that I'm not a foolish leader! I won't give him part of my territory, us Windclan cats need all the territory we can get. Longstar will have to fight for it, or he could just leave us alone. Is that clear?" Breezystar twitched her tail impatiently as she stared into the young warriors eyes.

"Yes Breezystar. Thank you." Crookedjaw mumbled. He gave Pinefur one last, fearful glance and dashed out of Windclan camp.

"Make sure he doesn't hunt in our territory." Breezystar yowled to a dark gray tabby tom. He nodded and followed the Riverclan warrior out of camp.

Breezystar paced around impatiently. "Longstar is too ambitious for his own good." She growled to Pinefur.

"I agree." Pinefur nodded. "You seem to be under a lot of stress, I'll send the apprentice back to the apprentices den." Pinefur glared at the young apprentice.

Breezystar nodded. The two cats began to walk towards the apprentices' den. "Wait! Actually, Pinefur, could you do me a favor?" the silver she-cat meowed.

"Yes Breezystar?"

"Could you take Tallpaw out with you and show him the borders? It's his first day, I wash I could go but I'm just too busy. I have to organize patrols and I'd like to patrol the Riverclan border to see if any of those Riverclan cats have been snooping around in our territory." Breezystar mewed.

"Okay." Pinefur muttered. "Be careful." He said uncomfortably. Tallpaw gulped at Breezystar's words. He'd have to be stuck with Pinefur for the whole day. "Come on apprentice, I'll show you the borders." He mumbled without even looking at Tallpaw. The black and white apprentice reluctantly followed the large tom out of camp.

"And this is Thunderpath. Do not cross it or else the monsters will try to kill you." Pinefur explained vaguely. Tallpaw was looking out onto Thunderpath, his eyes focused on the fascinating path, it was so unnatural. "Are you listening apprentice?" Pinefur asked.

"Quit calling my apprentice! I have a name and its Tallpaw." The young apprentice snapped. Suddenly he realized that he had just snapped at the Windclan deputy. He quickly closed his mouth and backed away from the large tom in fear.

Pinefur's furious green eyes glared at Tallpaw. "Fine, Tallpaw, I'll call you by your name." he grunted and walked off. "Come on, I'll show you the other borders." He mumbled. To Tallpaw's surprise, Pinefur didn't threaten him in any way.

It was Sunhigh, the two cats were standing by the edge of the river right across from the Riverclan border. Pinefur sighed as he stared out into the water.

"So this is our border between Riverclan territory?" Tallpaw asked. The large brown tom didn't answer, his gaze remained on the running water. The young black and white tom looked over into the water but saw nothing interesting. "What're you looking at?" he asked with curiosity. Still, Pinefur did not respond.

Pinefur remained still. Tallpaw wondered if he was frozen. "Pinefur? What's in the water?" there was still no reply. The young impatient apprentice went to go take one more look at the water. He leaned over to look. Suddenly he slipped into the water.

The apprentice splashed around, trying to get a hold of something. "Help!" he mewed. Finally Pinefur turned his head. He sat there staring at the drowning apprentice. His eyes wide with shock…but there was a slight sadness in his eyes too.

"Help Pinefur!" Tallpaw yelled helplessly. The water was pulling him down farther and farther. Pinefur stared at the young apprentice nervously. _He's going to let me die! _Tallpaw thought.

Suddenly Pinefur dove into the water and began to swim towards Tallpaw. With a few strokes, the large tom caught up with the small apprentice and grabbed his scruff. With a few more strokes the brown tom lifted one of his massive paws and managed to get a hold of a clump of grass. Pinefur tossed Tallpaw onto the hard ground, and slowly pulled himself up.

"I thought you weren't coming after me." Tallpaw panted.

Pinefur bared his teeth. "Do you think I'm evil or something?" he snarled.

"Well you were just staring at the water! What was I suppose to think?" Tallpaw snapped. Pinefur gave a long menacing stare at Tallpaw then turned away.

"Kits like you never understand." The large tom muttered.

"Understand what?" Tallpaw growled.

"That there is more to a warrior's life than just fighting and hunting!" Pinefur growled. "This is where…" he paused for a moment. "This is where I lost my son." He meowed. Tallpaw suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the deputy.

"You lost your son here?" Tallpaw mewed.

Pinefur nodded. "It all started a few moons before you were. My son was a newly named apprentice, Whitepaw was his name. He was small but strong and he was all white with green eyes like me. He very enthusiastic and had a lot of energy. He reminded me of you." Pinefur mewed. "Things were going well, he had a great mentor and I was happy and so was his mother."

"Then what happened?" Tallpaw asked curiously.

"One day, I took him out to see how his hunting was going. He cat two mice and a vole. As we were returning to camp, the newly named warrior, Rockfur, approached us. He told us that Riverclan was attacking. The three of us went to help. Whitepaw was fighting well for his first real battle." A glimmer of pride was shone in Pinefur's eyes. "Then...things took a turn for the worst."

Tallpaw's eyes widened. "It couldn't have been that bad, could it?"

"It was horrible." Pinefur meowed coldly. "Riverclan was winning. I noticed that three apprentices were attacking my son, I wanted to help but another warrior attacked me. I threw the large warrior off of me and he rolled down the hill, right towards the apprentices. Two of the Riverclan apprentices fled but one was still fighting with Whitepaw. Whitepaw noticed the tumbling warrior and quickly pushed the Riverclan apprentice away from him. A heartbeat later, my son was hit by the warrior and fell into the river. The Riverclan warrior reached out a paw but couldn't reach Whitepaw. The apprentice he saved, Crookedpaw, ran along the edge of the river, trying to keep sight of Whitepaw, but sadly Whitepaw drowned."

Tallpaw sat there with his mouth gaping open. "Is that why you keep on staring at me, because I remind you of your son?" he asked. Pinefur nodded.

"I never had a chance to say good-bye to him. He died too soon." Pinefur muttered.

"At least he died a hero." Tallpaw mewed. "You should be proud of him."

Pinefur sighed and stood up. "Let's go." He turned away from the river and walked back to camp. Tallpaw followed him. Pinefur wasn't really that bad, he just has a hard opening up to others.

Suddenly Tallpaw noticed something was behind. He quickly turned his head and looked back. He saw a ghostly white cat behind him. Tallpaw had never seen him before, but he had a feeling he knew who it was.

"Whitepaw?" Tallpaw mumbled low enough so Pinefur could hear.

The white tom nodded and disappeared. Tallpaw blinked a few times and sighed. He turned away from the river and followed Pinefur back to Windclan camp.

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This chapter we got to learn a lot about Pinefur and his past. I find his past sad and dramatic. Tallpaw now understands Pinefur better, and wishes to befriend the large tom. The next chapter will have a little more action to it. Thank you for reading. Reviews are appreciated!


	4. Chosen to balance

Here's the next exciting chapter of Tallstar's life... You get to find out why Tallpaw is so important to his leader.

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Chapter 4

Tallpaw sat in the lonely apprentices' den. Sadly, he was the only apprentice there. Sagefur had her kits recently, one was all black and the other was a tortoiseshell like her mother. But they wouldn't join him anytime soon since they were hardly a moon old.

The young apprentice looked out of the den and stared at the warriors doing their daily jobs. He sighed and went deeper into the den to rest his head on the shady, soft, mossy floor. Breezystar was always busy with Clan affairs and hardly had any time for him. He thought he was never going to become a warrior.

He drew in a breath, but before he could let it out, he heard a soft voice sound out from behind him.

"Tallpaw?" she mewed.

Tallpaw released his breath and turned his head. It was Breezystar. He lifted himself from the ground excitedly and trotted over to the large silver she-cat. He looked up at her face hoping for her to say something exciting. When he saw her face, the expression on her told him something else. Sadness filled her eyes, Tallpaw was confused. What was going on?

"I must speak to you. I have no one else to talk to." She mewed. Tallpaw said nothing. He made a quick nod. Breezystar turned away and began to make her way out of the gorse tunnel. She twitched her tail signaling that he should follow, Tallpaw slowly did.

Once they were out of the camp, Breezystar turned towards Tallpaw.

"Come with me, I want to show you something." She meowed. As she walked, her pace began to get faster and faster until she was running at full speed. Tallpaw sprinted forward, he stretched his long legs and pushed them forward. He tried to keep up, but his leader was faster.

"Wait!" Tallpaw squealed as he began to lose sight of his leader. He was too small to see above the tall grass. Suddenly an idea came up in his head. "Rabbits hide in tall grass! To run fast and to see where they are going they have to leap!" Tallpaw recalled. With a powerful leap, he jumped over a large heap of grass but there was no sign of Breezystar.

"I'll do it again." Then he made another large leap. He thought he saw a movement ahead of him but he wasn't sure. He took another leap, and another. Pretty soon he was leaping like a rabbit.

Suddenly he caught sight of a silver tail. He kept on leaping forward, catching a glimpse of the silver tail after each leap. Finally he had caught up with the silver tail. He was only one leap away from running side by side with his leader. With a large heave, he sprang up into the air, kicking the dirt up from behind him. He landed right on top of Breezystar. The silver she-cat stumbled onto the ground, rolling a few lengths then she came to a full stop. Tallpaw was right next to her, a bit dizzy.

"You caught up." She panted. "No one has ever caught up with me before. How did you--" she tried to finish, but she took a deep breath instead.

"I couldn't see you so I began to leap like a rabbit." Tallpaw mewed. He took several large breaths. Breezystar purred with pride.

"You're a very intelligent cat, young Tallpaw." She mewed. Tallpaw gracefully dipped his head. The silver she-cat licked his ear and purred. After a few moments, Breezystar lifted her head and looked up at a tree.

"We're here. This is the place I wanted to show you." She mewed. She slowly crawled out of the tall grass and sat by a tree standing alone. There were no other trees around it, only the river and grass. "This is the Lone Pine. It stands alone, I like to come here when things get too stressful back at camp."

The black and white apprentice padded up to the Lone Pine and sniffed it. It was peaceful. All he could hear was the water in the river running down stream and a few birds chirping. He could feel the wind against his chest as it blew right past him.

"It's beautiful here." He mewed. He gazed up at the white clouds slowly moving across the sky.

"Tallpaw, I want to talk to you." She mewed. The tone of her voice seemed different, it didn't sound as happy as before. The apprentice looked over at his mentor and walked over to her.

"Yes?" he mewed.

"I'm scared Tallpaw." She mumbled shamefully. "I'm so scared." She wailed. Tallpaw was shocked to hear his strong leader say such weak words. The young apprentice didn't understand why she was so scared.

"What are you scared of?" he asked. There was a long pause.

"I never wanted to be leader, Tallpaw." She mewed, breaking the silence. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I wanted to have a mate and kits. I wanted to fight for my clan like a normal warrior."

Tallpaw curiously listened. "Then what made you leader?"

Breezystar gazed up into the blue sky. "My best friend was deputy, but he was killed by Longstar, the Riverclan leader. His last words to me and our previous leader were to let me be deputy. He said he could trust me and that I can take care of this clan and lead it well."

"You didn't have to accept your role as deputy." The young apprentice mewed.

Breezystar's blue eyes hardened. "Don't you understand? I loved him, and I wanted to fulfill his dying wish." She mewed. A sad wail followed after that.

Tallpaw paused and stared at his leader. He was confused, young and didn't understand what true love was. His strong, brave leader seemed to be helpless at the moment.

"Why are you telling me this? I'm just and apprentice." Tallpaw wondered. Why would she tell him all her fears? Why not her deputy?

"You're the only one who'd understand! You're like a problem solver…You're the one who'll--" Suddenly she stopped. Her mouth was still open but nothing came out. After a few moments, she closed her mouth and turned away.

"Look at your tail, Tallpaw." She mewed quietly. Tallpaw shifted his gaze from her to his tail. He curled his long tail then uncurled it.

"I don't see anything." He mewed.

Breezystar turned towards him, her gaze remained stern and serious. "When you were born, a cat from StarClan sent me a message. A long tail means a long life, it'll also means balance. That's what our medicine cat thinks it signifies."

"I don't understand. Why would Goldeneye think that?" He mewed.

"Tails are what balance each cat when they climb trees, run or hunt. You have the longest one out of all the clans, Tallpaw. The balance between all four clans lay in your paws. The cat who sent me the message said that there would be something that would make all the clans chaotic. If the clans are uncontrollable many will lose their lives. The StarClan cat said you're the one who'd balance the clans." She explained.

"Me? But I'm just an apprentice." He gulped. Just thinking about the four clans becoming chaotic made his heart beat faster. "How am I supposed to balance the four clans? I don't understand…I don't…" Tallpaw began to panic. "What if I fail? What if…" But before he could finish, a wail of help interrupted him.

"Help! Riverclan is attacking! Breezystar, we need you!" the cat meowed from the tall grass. Breezystar sprang forward, Tallpaw followed right behind her. Tallpaw gasped as he saw a bloody gray tabby tom lying on the ground.

"Swiftpelt?" Breezystar wailed. "What's going on?"

The young tabby tom lifted his head. "Longstar…." He gasped. "He attacked camp…kits, queens, elders….they're all in danger. Longstar brought a large patrol, most of our warriors are on hunting patrol and Sunhigh patrol…and….only a few warriors left in camp. Lionclaw sent me…I was attacked on the way here by some Riverclan cats who followed me…attacked…" his voice began to fade.

"Swiftpelt?" Breezystar mewed. The young tom's lifeless eyes remained open. He stopped breathing, he lost too much blood to live. Tallpaw gasped again. Swiftpelt was still a young warrior, he felt a pang of fear and sadness for the young warrior. Tallpaw glanced at Breezystar's clouded eyes.

"Tallpaw, I must return to camp. Find our patrols and tell them to return to camp immediately!" she ordered. Without another word she grabbed Swiftpelt's scruff and began to pull him back to camp.

"You have to leave Swiftpelt here for now, the clan needs you." Tallpaw mewed. Breezystar glared at him for a second.

"You're right. When you find one of the patrols bring a cat with you and bring back Swiftpelt's body. His body will probably be safe in the tall grass." Breezystar sighed.

Tallpaw nodded and dashed off to find the patrols. As he ran, he started to think about what Breezystar had said earlier. He must balance the clans…but what does that mean? Tallpaw felt a cold chill run down his body as he thought of that. He was only an apprentice…how could he balance all four clans?

"Balance…" he mumbled as he ran. "…balance…"

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Yay! Another chapter done! Next chapter is when the battle scenes come in and all that excitement and stuff..oh..yeah, there will be a-- well I don't want to give it away. Anyways...you know who I'm obsessed with now? Brackenfur (my love), Thornclaw (my dreamy boy), Spiderleg (The cutest, silliest and funniest kitty ever! I love him!), Sootfur (He's the forgotten sibling of Willowpelt's litter. But I still love him!), Onewhisker (he's a softy and I love him), Crowfeather (he's just so cute when he rants about small things!)and last but not least TALLSTAR! My cute, brave kitty whom I will always love! I also like Rainwhisker and Ashfur...but wow, they'rereally popular in the fanfics, unlike Sootfur...why do people always forget about him? -cries- I'll always be his loyal fan! WOOT! Don't be surprise if you seea oneshot of Sootfurby me...I've noticed he's never mentioned in the fic or the series!poor littleSootfur...grrrr! I should post all this stuff on my profile...I am so hyper right now...anyways, stay tuned for the nextchapter! 


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